1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of exercise devices, and more specifically to hand, wrist and forearm exercise apparatus including a substantially horizontal shaft mounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis and a weight member suspended from a cord attached to the shaft midsection so that the user can grasp and rotate the shaft with one or both hands so that the cord wraps and unwraps around the shaft and raises and lowers the weight member, thereby exercising hand, wrist and arm muscle groups by working them alternately in opposing directions against the force of gravity acting on the weight member, the apparatus also including a hollow circular outer cylinder mounted coaxially over the shaft and having a cord passing opening in its midsection through which the cord extends, and having cylinder end walls each having a central bore, the central bores being bordered by first and second tubular flanges extending outward from the outer cylinder and over the shaft, a first end wall being connected to the outer cylinder, so that for minimal rotational resistance the outer surface of the shaft gathers and releases the weighted cord during shaft rotation, and for greater resistance, a first set screw in the first end flange is tightened to cause the outer cylinder to rotate together with the shaft so that the outer surface of the cylinder gathers and releases the cord, creating a greater distance between the axis of rotation and the cord gathering surface, the apparatus also optionally including a circular middle cylinder with a cord passing opening connected to the second end wall and rotatably mounted within the outer cylinder, which can be anchored to the shaft with a second set screw in the second end flange while the outer cylinder is released to rotate independently of the shaft, so that the outer surface of the middle cylinder gathers and releases the cord at a middle distance from the axis of rotation to create moderate rotational resistance, and the above-stated method of using the apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been devices for exercising muscles in the upper extremities of the human body which create resistance to movement in one direction and virtually no resistance to movement in the opposing direction. Examples of these devices include spring-biased hand grips which are squeezed against resistance and then released, such as the Digital Hand Grip and the Forearm Trainer, both shown on page 9 of Dr. Leonard's HEALTH FEST.TM. catalog published in 1993. A problem with these single-direction exercise devices is that they create unbalanced muscle development, failing to exercise some muscles altogether. The resulting lack of balance in muscular strength can impair agility and coordination of movement.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an exercise apparatus which creates reversed, or two directional, resistance to movement for balanced muscle development.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which permits selection of the magnitude of resistance through a fast and convenient alteration of mechanical advantage.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is suitable for therapeutical treatments and body conditioning programs based on isotonic exercising of the fingers, hands, wrists and forearms.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is reliable and inexpensive to manufacture.